G 

MSOSxu  J 


MIAMI  BULLETIN 

March,  1907  No.  13,  Series  5 

Published  Monthly  by  Miami  University 
And  Entered  at  Postoffice,  Oxford,  as  Second  Class  Mail  Matter 

Evolution  of  Public 
Education  in 
Ohio 

LEGISLATION 

IDQI 

The  MIAMI  UNIVERSITY 

OXFORD,  OHIO 


4' 


Evolution  of  Public  Education 
in  Ohio. 

LEGISLATION. 

“Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and 
the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever  be  encour- 
aged.”— Ordinance  of  1787,  Article  III. 

When  on  the  seventh  day  of  April,  1788,  the  Mayflower, 
bearing  down  the  Ohio  the  forty-six  New  Englanders,  the  first 
settlers  in  the  great  Northwest  Territories,  turned  her  prow 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  and  delivered  her  founders  of 
a great  industrial  empire,  Colonel  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  fa- 
mous father  of  one  of  the  four  territorial  judges,  drew  up  forth- 
with on  a sheet  of  foolscap  paper  rules  for  the  government  of 
the  settlement  and  tacked  the  same  to  the  trunk  of  a conspicuous 
oak.  Thus  simply  began  legislation  for  the  great  state  of  Ohio 
whose  legislators  now  present  at  every  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  from  six  hundred  to  one  thousand  bills. 

For  ten  years  the  territorial  Legislative  Council,  consisting 
of  the  territorial  governor,  secretary,  and  judges,  enacted  all  law 
for  the  territory.  On  the  sixteenth  day  of  September,  1799,  the 
first  territorial  legislature  met  in  Cincinnati.  This  legislature 
comprised  an  appointed  council  of  six  and  an  elected  House  of 
Representatives  consisting  of  twenty-two  members.  Of  the 
thirty-eight  acts  of  this  Legislature,  one  authorizing  the  free- 
holders of  Marietta  Township  to  levy  a tax  for  religious  purpose, 
had  a semi-educational  bearing,  as  religion  and  education  were 
still  considered  reciprocally  promotive  and  purposeful. 

School  Lands.  It  need  not  be  asserted  here  that  in  con- 
formity to  the  declaration  of  the  Ordinance  of  ’87,  quoted  at  the 
opening  of  this  chapter,  Congress  provided  for  free  schools  in 
the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  by  setting  aside  Section 
sixteen  of  every  township  of  five  or  six  miles  square  for  the 
support  of  the  common  schools.  In  Ohio  this  meant  about 
750,000  acres. 

Mr.  Caleb  Atwater,  chairman  of  the  Special  House  Com- 
mittee in  the  Twentieth  General  Assembly,  1821-2,  on  schools 
and  school  lands,  and  again  later  chairman  of  the  special  com- 


mittee  on  schools  and  school  lands,  appointed  by  Governor 
Trimble,  divided  the  school  lands  into  seven  “sorts.” 

(1)  Section  16  in  every  township  of  Congress  Lands.  (2) 
Virginia  Military  Lands.  (3)  United  States  Military  Lands. 
(4)  Symmes  purchase  in  Miami  Country.  (5)  Ohio  Company’s 
Land.  (6)  Refugee  Lands  from  Columbus  to  Zanesville.  (7) 
Connecticut  Western  Reserve  Lands. 


Some  Early  Acts. 


The  terminus  ad  quern  of  the  pioneer  to 
the  Ohio  country,  whether  an  officer  in 
the  Land  syndicates,  or  an  immigrant  attracted  from  New 
England  or  Pennsylvania  by  the  advertisements  of  the  Land 
companies,  was  good  land  for  little  money  and  on  easy  payments. 
He  was  willing  to  submerge  himself  and  his  children  to  achieve 
this.  These  pioneers  were  of  four  types,  the  adventurer,  the 


freebooter,  the  promoter,  the  settler.  Our  good  Scotch  territor- 
ial governor  with  his  judges,  was  for  many  years  occupied  in 
adopting  laws  from  “Code  of  Pennsylvania,”  the  governor’s  resi- 
dential state,  to  protect  the  settler  and  the  government  lands 
against  the  first  three  classes  so  that  it  was  nearly  a quarter  of 
a century  before  any  legislation  is  found  in  the  interest  of  the 
children  of  the  settler.  It  is  in  the  spirit  of  this  settler  that  we 
find  that  which  makes  race  improvement  possible.  He  saw  not 
the  cabin  from  which  his  children  should  be  married  and  he 
should  be  buried,  but  the  great  commonwealth,  the  embellish- 
ments of  civilized  posterity,  the  flourishing  industries  of  a power- 
ful state.  In  him  race  instincts  rose  above  the  parental.  Pius 
Aneas  could  have  lived  in  luxury  at,  and  Ascanius  could  have 
been  adopted  into,  the  Courts  of  Dido,  but  “Longa  Alba”  and  a 
Roman  people  were  a stronger  call  to  a noble  mind. 

A Myopic  Landlord.  In  1800  there  were  45,365  people  in 
the  territory  of  Ohio,  with  seven  organized  counties. 

In  1810  the  population  had  quintupled,  230,760,  and  the 
organized  counties  increased  to  thirty-six.  This  population  had 
settled  chiefly  in  the  Southern  part  of  the  state,  in  four  of  the 
divisions  of  the  state  having  school  land  reservations. 

This  necessitated  legislative  action  regarding  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  munificent  gift  of  Congress  as  many  of  the  settlers 
were  occupying  these  unadministered  sections.  It  would  be  judg- 
ing too  harshly  to  say  that  our  landlord,  the  General  Assembly, 
should  have  foreseen  that  it  was  administering  upon  an  estate 
that  within  a century  would  be  worth  from  $50,000,000  to  $75,- 
000,000,  but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  a just  criticism  to  say  that 
the  gross  mismanagement  of  this  first  endowment  on  the  new 
continent  for  free  common  schools  is  wholly  unworthy  the  politi- 
cal sagacity  and  high  minded  statesmanship  that  characterized 
the  early  General  Assemblies. 

The  Problem.  The  Western  Reserve  was  a reserve  in  the 
full  sense.  Connecticut  reserved  all  rights  and  title  to  the  land 
and  likewise  Civil  jurisdiction.  This  made  the  Northeast  a land 
without  law  as  Connecticut  did  not  establish  courts  or  judicial 
boards  in  the  Reserve.  In  1792,  as  the  map  page  three  indicates, 
Erie  and  Pluron  counties  were  given  by  the  Connecticut  Legis- 
lature to  the  surviving  citizens  of  eight  towns  which  had  suffered 
great  loss  from  Revolutionary  marauding  parties  under  Tyron 
and  Collier.  The  number  of  such  sufferers  are  given  as  follows : 


Greenwich  number  of  sufferers 283 

Norwalk  number  of  sufferers 287 

Fairfield  number  of  sufferers 269 

Danbury  number  of  sufferers 187 

New  and  EaS|t  Huron  number  of  sufferers 410 

New  London  number  of  sufferers 275 

Riegefield  number  of  sufferers 65 

Groton  number  of  sufferers 92 


How  Ohio  Counties  Appeared  at  the  Close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 


In  1796  Connecticut  sold  her  residue  of  the  Western  Reserve 
to  a Land  Company  and  establishing  out  of  all  her  income  her 
irreducible  Common  School  Fund  of  about  two  million  dollars. 
In  1800  she  surrendered  Civil  jurisdiction  of  the  Western  Reserve 
to  Ohio  and  Governor  St.  Clair  established  Trumbull  County. 
The  Constitutional  Convention  of  Ohio  in  November,  1802,  made 
additional  propositions  to  the  Act  of  Congress  enabling  Ohio  to 
become  a state,  that  School  Lands  should  be  set  aside  for  the 
U.  S.  Military  District,  Virginia  Military  District,  and  the 
Western  Reserve  as  had  been  provided  in  the  Purchase  by  Ohio 
and  Miami  Land  Companies.  To  these  propositions  Congress 
responded  March  3,  1803  and  1807,  from  her  unsurveyed  and  un- 
sold land,  making  all  parts  of  the  state  equal  participants  in  the 
“one  section  of  land  to  every  township  for  the  support  of 
Common  Schools”  provision.  How  shall  Ohio  administer  on 
this  generous  donation? 

Two  Plans.  The  first  Assembly  of  the  state  of  Ohio  met 
in  the  town  of  Chillicothe,  March  1,  1803.  Nine  counties  were 
represented  and  among  the  first  measures  to  be  considered  was 
the  management  of  the  School  Lands.  There  was  no  precedent. 
There  were  no  local  officers  under  the  state  constitution  nor 
Congressional  action  to  authorize  to  lease,  the  Land  Agents 
could  not  do  so.  The  lands  were  not  productive  and  could  not 
be  leased  at  money  rent. 

I.  The  Improvement  Lease  was  authorized  April  15,  1803.  It 
was  hoped  that  by  the  time  of  the  expiration  of  these  improve- 
ment leases  the  school  lands  would  produce  revenue  for  the  sup- 
port of  schools — vain  hope  in  most  cases — they  produced  but  not 
revenue  for  schools. 

1.  Commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Governor  for 
counties  or  districts  to  a^ct  as  agents  for  the  state  under  following 
Legislative  instructions:  (In  1807  the  township  trustees  were 
authorized  to  manage  the  School  Lands.) 

a.  Lease  not  less  than  160  acres  nor  more  than  320  acres  to 
one  lessor,  for  not  less  than  seven  years  nor  more  than  fifteen 
years. 

b.  The  Commissioners  must  advertise  the  lands  in  one  or 
more  county  papers. 

c.  The  Commissioner  should  receive  $2.00  for  every  lease 
to  be  paid  by  lessor. 


2.  The  lessee  should  observe  following  conditions: 

a.  Fifteen  acres  should  be  cleared  and  fenced  into  separable 
fields. 

b.  Five  acres  of  the  cleared  lands  should  be  “sowed”  in 
timothy  or  red  clover. 

c.  Three  acres  of  cleared  land  should  be  planted  in  orchard 
of  100  thrifty  and  growing  apple  trees. 

d.  Seven  acres  of  the  cleared  land  should  be  cultivated  in 
the  ordinary  manner. 

e.  Lessee  should  build  a house  on  the  lease. 

f.  All  improvements  should  be  made  in  the  first  twelve 
years  of  fifteen  year  leases  and  the  first  five  of  the  seven  year 
leases. 

II.  The  Sale  of  Leases  was  authorized  for  the  Virginia  Mili- 
tary Tract,  February  17,  1809. 

The  Legislature  in  joint  session  appointed  a surveyor,  regis- 
trar and  treasurer  for  the  sale  of  these  leases.  Due  advertise- 
ment was  to  be  made  in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  of  the 
public  sale. 

1.  Sale  was  to  be  made  to  highest  bidder,  quarter  section  in 
a tract. 

2.  No  sale  was  to  be  made  at  less  than  $2.00  per  acre  and 
expense  of  survey  and  sale  of  the  land. 

3.  The  purchaser  was  to  pay  the  sale  expense  on  first 
Monday  after  the  second  of  February  after  the  date  of  sale. 

4.  On  the  amount  of  the  sale  he,  his  heirs  and  assignees 
were  to  pay  6 per  cent,  yearly  and  every  year  forever. 

5.  The  deed  of  the  lease  was  made  by  the  Registrar  for 
ninety-nine  years,  renewable  forever. 

The  costs  of  the  surveys  and  sales  were  not  made  promptly 
and  with  the  usual  impatience  and  want  of  administrative  facility 
of  a legislative  body,  the  Assembly  in  1810  commuted  not  only 
the  costs  but  five  years  of  rent  for  the  humiliating  sum  of  ten 
dollars  cash.  Ten  dollars  in  hand  were  worth  more  than  a hun- 
dred in  the  bush,  ($96  plus  costs  of  survey  and  sale).  Let  us 
comfort  ourselves  by  the  supposition  that  our  fathers  lacked 
faith  and  facility. 

In  December,  1820,  state  auditor  Osborn  reported  $5,143,812 
in  the  treasury  from  the  Virginia  Military  Fund. 


This  would  have  yielded  $308,628  for  the  support  of  schools 
among  at  least  15,000  school  pupils  living  at  that  time  in  the 
tract — two  cents  apiece. 

The  lease  of  1809  provided  that  alterations  might  be  made 
by  succeeding  legislatures  and  this  provision  was  freely  used  to 
commute  judgment,  to  relieve  individuals  for  term  of  years,  to 
lease  for  grist  mills,  without  the  revaluation  clause,  etc.,  etc. 

Neither  of  the  foregoing  plans  yielded  revenue  for,  nor  en- 
couragement to,  education. 

Investigation.  Governor  Brown’s  Message.  The  seven  year 
leases  and  the  fifteen  year  leases  expired,  other  leases  were  made 
by  the  township  trustees  and  the  School  Land  Commissioners, 
but  information  as  to  the  amount  of  income  or  literary  advan- 
tages of  the  School  Lands  was  not  available.  Governor  Brown 
in  his  message  to  the  General  Assembly,  December  4,  1821,  said, 
“l  have  possessed  no  means  of  acquiring  information  for  the  legis- 
lature, of  the  success  that  has  followed  the  act  ‘to  provide  for  the 
regulation  and  support  of  common  schools.’  You  must  of  course 
judge  of  its  operation  in  your  respective  neighborhoods  from 
your  own  observation.” 

In  response  to  the  above  indictment  Caleb  Atwater  of  Circle- 
ville,  offered  a resolution  that  a committee  be  appointed  on 
Schools  and  School  Lands.  Such  a committee  of  five  was 
appointed  with  Mr.  Atwater  as  chairman.  To  this  committee 
were  referred  all  petitions  for  relief  of  lessees  and  for  postpone- 
ment of  payments,  which  were  the  usual  questions  of  privileges 
arising  in  the  Assembly  relative  to  School  Lands. 

Many  members  of  this  legislature  were  themselves  lessees 
or  managers  of  School  Lands,  so  that  the  committee  found  the 
situation  too  delicate  for  any  effective  report.  So  a report  dis- 
tinguished for  its  glittering  encomiums  upon  education  and  the 
duties  of  the  legislature  relative  to  education  was  substituted 
recommending  a general  commission  of  seven  members  ap- 
pointed by  the  governor  to  report  “a  bill  to  establish  and  regulate 
common  schools,  accompanied  by  such  information  on  the  sub- 
ject as  they  may  collect.”  Both  Houses  agreed  to  this  recom- 
mendation and  Governor  Trimble  appointed  such  a commission 
with  Mr.  Atwater  as  chairman.  Atwater  was  the  first  layman  in 


Ohio  to  become  deeply  interested  in  public  education.  He  was 
an  attorney,  a native  of  Massachusetts,  a graduate  of  Williams 
and  an  author  of  considerable  literature.  His  report  bore  the 
stamp  of  a philanthropic  and  idealistic  temperament. 

The  following  excerpt  from  the  report  seems  quite  literary 
for  a report  to  the  House.  (McGuffey’s  Readers  had  not  yet 
made  Gray’s  Elegy  known  to  Ohio.) 

“Full  many  a gem  of  purest  ray  serene, 

The  dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear. 

Full  many  a flower  is  born  to  bloom  unseen, 

And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air.” 

“Is  it  not  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  explore  the  recesses 
of  the  ocean  of  distress  and  poverty  and  to  draw  forth  the  gems 
of  genius  and  place  them  before  the  public  eye?  Ought  not  the 
field  of  learning  be  so  far  extended  as  to  enclose  within  its  limits 
those  beautiful  wild  flowers  of  genius  which  are  now  wasting 
their  sweetness  on  the  desert  air?” 

The  committee  of  seven  spent  much  time  and  money  (their 
own)  in  bringing  to  the  notice  of  the  public  their  fruitless  pos- 
session in  the  School  Lands  under  the  adopted  management. 

The  Legislature  of  1823,  was  hostile  to  change,  but  in  the 
campaign  of  1823  the  school  question  became  an  issue.  Waste 
and  mismanagement  were  discussed  in  every  county.  The  result 
of  the  election  was  one  of  the  best  Legislatures  ever  sent  to 
Columbus  to  represent  the  interest  of  the  commonwealth.  Only 
eight  members  out  of  sixty-nine  members  had  been  returned  at 
the  fall  election. 

Deliverance  Per  Saltum.  This  Assembly  had  a canal  party, 
the  spirit  of  internal  improvement  having  culminated  in  the  canal 
question,  and  a school  party.  These  two  parties  politically,  still 
Jeffersonian  in  Ohio,  united  to  get  canals  and  a school  system. 

A memorial  was  made  to  Congress  and  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses of  Virginia  praying  the  right  to  sell  all  common  school 
lands  within  the  state.  This  general  sale  was  begun  before 
Congress  or  Virginia  replied.  Each  township  could  vote  at  any 
time  upon  the  sale  of  its  school  lands.  Some  townships  never 
sold  their  lands. 


The  Common  School  Fund.  The  moneys  arising  from  the 
sale  of  the  school  lands  and  school  leases  came  into  the  treasury 
of  the  state  and  the  Legislature,  from  time  to  time,  borrowed 
this  money.  In  February,  1825,  we  find  the  following:  “That 
the  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand,  five  hundred  and  nine  dollars, 
six  cents  and  seven  mills,  now  in  the  treasury  of  this  state  for 
the  use  of  schools  in  the  Virginia  Military  District,  be  and  the 
same  is  hereby  loaned  to  the  state  of  Ohio  for  one  year  at  interest 
of  six  per  centum,  per  annum.  In  1831,  however,  the  Legislature 
instituted  the  perpetual  loan  known  as  the  irreducible  debt.  The 
loan  was  authorized  March  2,  1831,  and  the  income  constituted 
the  “Common  School  Fund:” 

“That  whenever,  and  so  often,  as  any  moneys  shall  be  paid 
into  the  state  treasury,  arising  from  the  sale  of  any  lands  which 
heretofore  have  been,  or  hereafter  may  be,  appropriated  by  Con- 
gress, for  the  use  of  support  of  schools  in  any  original  surveyed 
township,  or  other  district  of  country,  in  this  state,  the  Auditor 
of  State  shall  forthwith  open  an  account  in  a book  or  books 
to  be  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  pass  the  said  moneys 
to  the  credit  of  such  township,  or  other  district  of  country; 
which  §aid  money  shall  constitute  an  irreducible  fund,  the  pro- 
ceeds accruing  from  which  shall  be  paid  over  and  appropriated, 
in  the  manner  which  shall  be  pointed  out  by  law,  for  the  support 
of  common  schools  within  the  township,  or  other  district  of 
country,  to  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatever. 

“That  all  moneys  paid  into  the  state  treasury  as  aforesaid, 
shall  bear  an  annual  interest  of  six  per  centum.” 

The  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  salt  lands  were  added 
to  the  fund,  also  moneys  from  licenses  on  peddlers,  auctioneers, 
etc. 

The  interest  was  funded  until  1835  and  annually  thereafter 
the  income  has  been  distributed  through  the  State  Auditor  to 
the  various  townships  and  “districts  of  country.” 

State  Aid.  The  sovereign  right  to  tax  for  the  welfare  of  the 
entire  commonwealth  came  slowly  into  the  common  conscious- 
ness and  the  public  will  was  many  years  in  asserting  itself.  The 
Assembly  grew  slowly  to  full  stature,  we  were  so  Jeffersonian. 

In  the  law  of  1821,  the  school  committee,  which  it  created, 
were  enabled  to  levy  taxes  for  (a)  buying  a lot  for  school  house, 


(b)  for  building  such  school  house,  (c)  for  making  up  any  defi- 
ciency in  the  private  subscription  for  the  support  of  the  teachers 
arising  from  indigent  pupils  provided : that  the  tax  thus  levied 
never  exceed  one-half  of  the  levy  which  had  been  made  “on  the 
same  object’’  for  state  or  county  taxes. 

Compulsory  County  Revenue  for  Schools.  In  1825  the  Leg- 
islature required  that  the  "County  commissioners  shall  levy  one- 
half  (y2)  mill  on  all^the  taxable  land  of  the  county  “for  the  use 
of  the  common  school.”  This  compulsory  county  system  con- 
tinued in  force  until  superseded  by  the  General  School  Law  of 
1853,  when  the  sovereignty  of  the  state  was  fully  asserted. 

Public  sentiment  does  not  always  register  the  same  even 
upon  a general  fixed  policy.  It  beats  strong,  then  weak.  In  the 
law  of  1825  the  Legislature  said  the  Commissioners  “Shall  levy 
and  assess.”  Later  it  modified  the  amounts  and  the  form  of 
the  language  indicating  more  or  less  accurately  public  sentiment 
regarding  state  aid  to  popular  education.  The  following  gives 
the  record  of  the  beats  for  a quarter  of  a century : 

1825  Shall  levy  and  assess  y2  mill. 

1825  Shall  levy  and  assess  y±  mill. 

1834  Shall  levy  and  assess  1 mill,  may  add  y2  mill. 

1836  Shall  levy  and  assess  y2  mill,  may  add  y2  mill. 

1838  Shall  levy  and  assess  2 mills. 

1839  Commissioners  may  reduce  from  2 mills  to  1 mill. 

1847  Commissioners  may  reduce  from  1 mill  to  two-fifths 

of  a mill. 

1848  Commissioner  authorized  but  not  required  to  levy  one 

mill. 

1851  Commissioners  shall  levy  not  less  than  1 mill. 


An  Exhibit  Showing  the  State  Aid  to  the  Public  Schools 
of  Ohio  from  1837  to  the  Present  Time 


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I 


As  will  be  noticed  in  the  exhibit  the  high  tide  of  State  com- 
pulsory levy  was  reached  in  1838,  due  to  the  recommendation 
and  untiring  labor  of  our  first  Commissioner,  the  Hon.  Samuel 
Lewis,  of  Cincinnati.  While  this  recommendation  had  its  re- 
action and  the  active  interests  seemed  unappreciated  the  effort 
was  not  lost— rthis  voice  in  the  wilderness  could  not  be  drowned. 
Although  the  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools 
was  abolished,  the  sacrifice  of  Lewis  grew  into  the  great  School 
Law  of  1853,  in  which  the  state  assumed  full  authority  to  levy 
upon  its  own  duplicate  the  State  Common  School  Fund. 

There  have  been  three  distinct  epochs  in  the  history  of  taxa- 
tion in  Ohio.  Prior  to  1826  personal  property  was  not  listed  for 
taxation  and  the  land  was  divided  into  various  classes  after  the 
plan  of  the  Kentucky  Code. 

From  1826  to  1846  both  the  real  estate  and  personal  property 
became  the  basis  of  taxation. 

From  1846  to  the  present  time  real  state,  personal  property, 
money,  and  credits  all  were  made  subject  to  taxation. 

We  will  probably  enter  a fourth  period  in  which  franchises 
and  all  forms  of  earning  investments  and  securities  will  be 
entered  on  the  list  of  taxable  property  in  the  state. 

The  State  Common  School  Fund  began  in  1839.  This  fund, 
from  1839  to  1853,  was  made  up  from  the  following  items  as 
shown  by  the  Auditor’s  report  in  1847: 


“State  Common  School  Fund. 

Balance  in  the  treasury,  Nov.  15,  1846 $ 31,775.56  5 

Tax  of  ^4  a mill  on  the  dollar,  levied  on  the  grand 

list,  and  paid  in  by  county  treasurer 68,891.86  0 

Amount  paid  through  Auditor’s  office 690.53  0 

Auction  duties  1,120.44  0 

Peddlers’  licenses  4,791.67  0 

Tax  on  lawyers  and  physicians 4,909.21  0 

Tax  on  insurance  and  bridge  companies 923.62  0 

Tax  on  banks 27,920.53  0 

Surplus  Revenue,  interest  at  five  per  cent 91,268.81  6 


$232,292.24  1” 


Some  of  these  items  have  been  continued  until  the  present 
time.  It  was  not  the  common  practice  for  the  Legislature,  prior 
to  1862,  to  state  what  the  appropriation  should  be,  but  simply  to 
state  that  there  should  be  appropriated,  to  the  use  of  the  Common 
Schools  of  Ohio,  so  much  money  as  should  come  into  the  treas- 
ury under  the  law  providing  for  the  support  of  the  common 
schools.  In  1862  the  General  Assembly  adopted  the  plan  of 
making  a definite  statement  of  the  amount  appropriated,  which 
was  a mere  perfunctory  matter  as  will  be  noted  from  1867  to  1880 
in  which  it  was  uniformly  of  $1,500,000.  This  is  shown  under 
the  item  Enabling  Legislation  and  does  not  correspond  to  the 
amount  actually  distributed. 

As  to  the  distribution  per  pupil,  three  characteristics  will  be 
noticed.  (1)  From  1839  to  1852  the  income  was  fixed  at 
$200,000,  according  to  the  Law  of  1838  and  as  the  enumeration 
increased,  the  distribution  per  pupil  decreased.  (2)  From  1854 
the  distribution  per  pupil  increased  until  1871  when  it  reached 
$2.19.  (3)  From  1876  to  1902  the  rate  per  pupil  distributed 

remained  about  $1.50. 

State  aid  should  not  be  distributed  per  capita  enumerated 
alone  to  all  communities.  A fixed  per  capita  aid  might  be  given 
to  all  schools  and  such  additional  amounts  to  poor  schools  as 
are  necessary  to  supplement  the  rfiaximum  local  effort  in  sus- 
taining public  education  of  the  standard  required  by  the  state. 
I quote  the  law  of  England  on  state  aid  which  though  a bit  cum- 
bersome, is  nevertheless  a good  example  of  carefully  adjusted 
equity  in  state  aid : 

“There  shall  be  annually  paid  to  every  Local  Education 
Authority  (Board  of  Education  in  counties,  county  boroughs, 
independent  municipal  boroughs)  out  of  moneys  provided  by 
Parliament.” 

(a)  A sum  equal  to  four  shillings  per  scholar;  and 

(b)  An  additional  sum  of  three  half-pence  per  scholar  for 
every  complete  two-pence  per  scholar  by  which  the  amount 
which  would  be  produced  by  a penny  rate  on  the  area  of  the 
authority  (school  district  under  board  of  education)  falls  short  of 
ten  shillings  per  scholar.” 

It  might  be  generally  observed  as  to  the  surplus  that  it  has 
always  been  too  large.  This  large  reserve  the  Auditor  has  con- 
sidered necessary  because  of  the  fluctuation  of  delinquencies. 


The  amount  to  be  distributed  has  until  recently  been  determined 
by  the  State  Auditor.  Since  1900  it  has  been  fixed  by  statute.  It 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  State  School  Commissioner.  Both 
in  New  York  and  Wisconsin,  in  which  two  states  the  state 
administrative  organization  is  most  effective,  the  chief  state  edu- 
cational officer,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  in  the  one,  and 
the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  other,  has 
the  distribution  of  the  school  funds. 

It  may  be  noticed  also  that  when  the  State  Common  School 
Fund  suffered  loss,  namely  in  1858  and  in  1902,  the  surplus  was 
very  large.  It  is  detrimental  to  the  interests  to  have  a large 
surplus  in  the  State  Common  School  Fund  and  such  surplus 
would  doubtless  be  avoided  by  the  State  School  Commissioner. 

Evolution  of  Section  3951.  In  the  Law  of  1853,  Section  63, 
which  by  subsequent  codification  of  the  Ohio  Laws  became  Sec- 
tion 3951,  reads  as  follows:  “For  the  purpose  of  affording  the 
advantages  of  a free  education  to  all  the  youth  of  this  State, 
the  “State  Common  School  Fund”  shall  hereafter  consist  of  such 
sum  as  will  be  produced  by  an  annual  levy  and  assessment  of 
two  mills  upon  the  dollar  valuation  on  the  grand  list  of  taxable 
property  of  the  state.”  This  section  was  amended  in  1854  to 
change  “two  mills”  on  the  dollar  of  valuation  to  “1  y2  mills,” 
and  subsequently  to  reduce  the  levy  as  is  indicated  in  the  exhibit 
from  1859  to  1870. 

Previous  to  1891  it  was  the  custom  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  make  appropriations  for  the  various  state  institutions  accord- 
ing to  the  requisitions  of  the  authorities  of  the  several  institutions. 
Each  institution  made  its  requisition  to  the  finance  committee 
of  the  House  or  the  Senate  for  its  needs  for  the  coming  year,  or 
two  years,  as  was  later  adopted. 

It  is  generally  conceded  by  state  universities  to  be  the  best 
financial  policy  to  be  placed  upon  the  permanent  levy  of  the  state 
by  statute;  so  the  state  authorities  of  the  Ohio  State  University 
in  1891  reconstructed  Section  3591,  heretofore  referring  wholly 
to  common  schools,  and  made  it  read  as  follows: 

“For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  advantages  of  free  educa- 
tion to  all  the  youth  of  the  state  there  shall  be  levied  annually  a 
tax  on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  state  which 


shall  be  collected  in  the  same  manner  as  other  state  taxes  and  the 
proceeds  of  which  shall  constitute  the  “State  Common  School 
Fund”,  and  for  the  purpose  of  higher,  agricultural  and  industrial 
education,  including  Manual  Training,  there  shall  be  levied  and 
collected  in  the  same  manner  a tax  on  the  grand  list  of  taxable 
property  of  the  state  which  shall  constitute  the  “Ohio  State 
University  Fund. 

“The  rate  of  such  levy  in  each  case  shall  be  designated  by 
the  general  assembly  at  least  once  in  two  years  and  if  the  general 
assembly  shall  fail  to  designate  for  any  year  the  same  shall  be 
for  the  State  Common  School  Fund  one  mill  and  for  the  Ohio 
State  University  Fund  one-twentieth  of  one  mill  upon  each 
dollar  valuation  of  such  taxable  property. 

“Said  section  3951  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Ohio  is  hereby 
repealed  and  this  shall  take  effect  from  and  after  its  passage ; this 
repealed  the  old  section  3951  providing  for  the  support  of  com- 
mon schools.  This  made  common  the  destiny  of  the  State  Uni- 
versity support  and  the  State  Common  School  Fund.” 

“The  needs  of  the  University  grew  so  that  in  1900  section 
3951  was  again  changed  by  the  following  modifications  and  made 
to  read  instead  of  “one-twentieth  of  a mill,  etc.,”  “for  the  Ohio 
State  University  fifteen-hundredths  of  a mill  for  the  years  1900 
and  1901  and  thereafter  one-tenth  of  a mill — the  five  one-hun- 
dredths of  a mill  increase — shall  be  used  solely  for  erection  and 
equipment  of  buildings.” 

In  1902  section  3951  was  again  changed.  The  needs  of  the 
Ohio  State  University  increased  still  further.  The  one-tenth  of 
a mill  for  which  it  asked  in  1900  and  1901  was  not  sufficient  to 
meet  its  growing  demands.  It  wished  to  have  fifteen-hun- 
dredths of  a mill  for  current  support.  At  the  same  time  it  was 
the  policy  of  the  party  in  power  to  reduce  the  grand  levy.  To 
meet  the  usual  running  expenses  of  the  state  the  increasing  needs 
of  the  Ohio  State  University  and  other  educational  and  eleemos- 
ynary institutions  of  the  state,  and  reduce,  at  the  same  time, 
the  grand  tax  levy  was  impossible.  It  seemed  then  that  there 
was  but  one  move  to  make  and  that  was  in  the  line  of  least 
resistance.  This  is  always  done  in  such  affairs,  politicians  have 
greatest  sagacity.  There  stood  the  State  Common  School 
Fund — $218,211.80,  sufficient  to  keep  the  distribution  at  $1.50 
per  capita  with  a reduced  levy.  The  administration  stood  firm 


on  one  side  that  there  should  be  no  increase,  in  the  schedule 
levy  and  on  the  other  side  was  the  unguarded  surplus.  I say 
unguarded  inasmuch  as  no  one  is  elected  by  the  state  to  guard  the 
interest  of  the  common  schools  except  the  state  school  commis- 
sioner and  he  had  no  authority  over  that  fund,  and  Section  3951 
was  again  changed  to  read  as  follows : 

“For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  advantages  of  a free  edu- 
cation to  all  the  youth  of  the  state,  there  shall  be  levied  annually 
a tax  on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  state,  which 
shall  be  collected  in  the  same  manner  as  other  state  taxes  and  the 
proceeds  of  which  shall  continue  ‘the  State  Common  School 
Fund,’  and  for  the  purpose  of  higher,  agricultural  and  industrial 
education,  including  Manual  Training,  there  shall  be  levied  and 
collected  in  the  same  manner  a tax  on  the  grand  list  of  taxable 
property  of  the  state,  which  shall  constitute  ‘the  Ohio  State 
University  Fund.’  The  rate  for  such  levy  in  each  case  shall  be 
designated  by  the  general  assembly  at  least  once  in  two  years; 
and  if  the  general  assembly  shall  fail  to  designate  the  rate  for 
any  year  the  same  shall  be  for  ‘the  State  Common  School  Fund’ 
ninety-five  hundredths  of  one  mill,  each  year  for  the  years  1902 
and  1903,  and  one  mill  each  year  thereafter:  for  the  ‘Ohio  State 
University  Fund,’  fifteen  one-hundredths  of  one  mill  upon  each 
dollar  of  valuation  of  such  taxable  property,  each  year  for  the 
years  1902  and  1903,  and  ten-hundredths  of  one  mill  each  year 
thereafter.” 

In  1904  the  State  University  levy  was  separated  from  the 
Common  School  levy  and  made  fifteen  one-hundredths  of  a mill 
without  limit  of  time  and  in  1906  section  3951  was  made  to  read: 

“For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  advantage  of  a free  edu- 
cation to  all  the  youth  of  the  state,  there  shall  be  levied  annually 
a tax  of  one  mill  on  the  grand  list  of  the  taxable  property  of  the 
state,  which  shall  be  collected  in  the  same  manner  as  other  state 
taxes  and  the  proceeds  of  which  shall  constitute  ‘the  State  Com- 
mon School  Fund,’  and  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  irre- 
ducible or  trust  fund  debt  for  school  purposes,  ten  one-hun- 
dredths of  one  mill,  said  fund  to  be  styled,  ‘the  sinking  fund.’ 
The  rate  for  such  levy  shall  be  designated  by  the  general  assem- 
bly at  least  once  in  two  years ; and  if  the  general  assembly  shall 
fail  to  designate  the  rate  for  any  year,  the  same  shall  be  one 


mill  for  the  State  Common  School  Fund,  and  ten  one-hundredths 
of  one  mill  for  the  sinking  fund.” 

H.  C.  Minnich, 

Dean  Ohio  State  Normal  College  of  Miami  University, 

Oxford,  Ohio. 


A complete  list  of  references  to  authorities  from  which  the  data 
were  taken  will  be  given  at  close  of  the  series. 


